Falling
by Melissa7187
Summary: It was falling in love and falling apart. Aubrey invites Chloe, Beca, and Jesse to spend the summer with her at her vacation home. While Aubrey struggles with hidden feelings and her relationship with Chloe, Beca finds herself falling in love for the first time. Pairings: Jesse and Beca. Aubrey and Chloe. Four-parts.
1. Aubrey

A/N: I own nothing. The characters aren't mine, nor are the songs, shows or records referenced. That is all...

* * *

_I've fallen out of favor and I've fallen from grace_  
_Fallen out of trees and I've fallen on my face_  
_Fallen out of taxis, out of windows too_  
_Fell in your opinion when I fell in love with you_

_Falling- Florence + The Machine_

* * *

**Chapter One: Aubrey**

* * *

She didn't mean to invite the whole gang on her summer vacation. It was an accident, if anything, because the words just slipped from her mouth over dinner at the cafe without passing through her internal filter first. They were meant for Chloe's ears alone, but as Chloe flashed her an uneasy smile and Jesse perked up at the mention of free lodgings and a dock with a rowboat, she couldn't take it back.

Chloe didn't want to go alone. She didn't want one last summer before they both had to go their separate ways as grad school took over. She didn't want to feel anything. She needed a buffer and Jesse, with his eager smile and pleading eyes, was the perfect candidate.

Beca seemed to reflect exactly how Aubrey was feeling inside, her face contorting into an uneasy smirk as Jesse flung an arm around her shoulders and exclaimed "Doesn't that sound amazing, Bec? We could spend the whole summer together! Fishing and swimming and drinking. We could even go to the beach..." He trailed off as Beca simply nodded and looked down at her plate of french fries, unsure of how to respond to his urging. "Are you okay? We don't _have_ to go..."

"Oh, come on Beca!" Chloe reached across the table and grabbed her forearms, rubbing them playfully and keeping her eyes forward to avoid contact with Aubrey's. "It'll be so much fun! I'm going to be in New York next semester and Bree will be in Boston, so how often will we see each other? I **want **you there." She flashed Jesse a warm smile before sitting back against the booth and withering as her arm brushed against Aubrey's. "I want you **both **there."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Beca asked Aubrey, who looked up from her milkshake and whose eyes were seemingly swimming in tears as they stared back into her own. "Do you really want us there all summer? I don't want to put you out."

"It's fine." Aubrey murmured while giving them a tight smile and fishing for her wallet in her purse, ready to end this dinner before she agreed to anything else. "The more the merrier. It'll be a blast."

As Jesse started to make plans with Beca to fly down together, Aubrey turned and looked at Chloe for a moment, meeting her eyes and reaching for her hand under the table. Their fingers brushed and intertwined for a moment before Chloe pulled away and looked down at her half-eaten platter, suddenly uncomfortable as a flush worked its way onto her ears and neck.

_When did I lose her?_

* * *

The house has been in her family for years, the seldom-used vacation home of her grandparents who rarely left the city and their busy lives. It sat empty all summer, save for a week or two when Thomas Posen would pack up the family car and drag Beau and Aubrey off to the house against their will. There were no grand family vacations to the Grand Canyon or Disney World with a father like her own. Instead, they would pile into the Buick and drive from their home in Wilmington to the large house just minutes from Myrtle Beach. Aubrey and her brother would mope the entire time while their father fished and smoked cigars and grilled dinner for them every night. There was no television, phone, or kids around to keep them occupied; just a den full of musty novels and a record player that barely worked. It was torture.

It was heaven.

It was everything that she needed after nearly falling apart before finals. It was the perfect place to relax for a while and just have some peace before she had to start all over again in Boston. Before law school would take over her life and consume her with mnemonics and term papers. Before she lost her best friend to medical school and the bright lights of New York City. Before someone else saw everything that Aubrey did and stole her heart away.

Before her heart broke apart completely.

The peace and quiet would come eventually, Aubrey promised herself as she popped open the back of her father's Jeep and started to heave suitcases out of it. The ride from the airport to the house had been pleasant, but as they pulled in front of the house and everyone got a good look at their accommodations for the next two months, the bickering began.

"This is just like _Dawson's Creek_", Chloe breathed out as she spotted the small creek in the back of the house and the rickety row boat that was tethered to the dock. "It's perfect!"

"If this is _Dawson's Creek_", Jesse teased while poking Chloe in the arm," then I get to be Pacey!"

"What?!" Chloe exclaimed while pushing him back and trying not to laugh. "That's not fair! Pacey was my favorite. You can be Dawson. You have a huge forehead just like he has."

Beca shook her head as her boyfriend bantered with her best friend and joined Aubrey at the back of the car, spotting her laptop under a duffle bag and hoisting it over her shoulder while shooting Aubrey a small smile.

"It's going to be a long summer, isn't it?"

Aubrey laughed, finally allowing herself to relax as the pair continued fighting as they walked up the path to the house, and Beca had to bite her own lip to stop herself from grinning.

"Yeah, but it'll be nice." She smiled and thrust a suitcase into Beca's arms while shutting the trunk and cocking her head. "Let's go inside. I'll make Mimosas and we can ignore those two. Start the summer off right."

The genuine smile that Beca gave her in return reassured her and made her think that maybe this wasn't a bad idea. That maybe they would all get along and no one would get hurt.

That her heart would make it through until fall.

* * *

Chloe slept in a tank top and boy shorts, half covered by a blanket that she always managed to kick off in her sleep. One arm tossed haphazardly over the edge of the bed while the other was thrust under her pillow, in a position that Aubrey couldn't possibly understand the appeal of. It suited Chloe though and as Aubrey slinked out from behind her and reached for her pajama bottoms, which had somehow made it across the room in the midst of their drunken make-out session the night before, she couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked. It suited Chloe and she loved it. She loved **this**.

She loved the bitter taste of Chloe's lips as they crashed against her own, mumbling endearments between moans as they slipped out of the living room and upstairs. She didn't care that Beca would flash her a knowing smirk and that Jesse would raise an eyebrow when she joined them at the breakfast table later. She didn't mind when Chloe would refuse to acknowledge it, covering the bruises on her collarbone with a t-shirt and not saying a word as she slid pancakes onto her plate and kept her eyes downcast. It had always been this way. What about this situation would make her think that it would ever change?

Chloe was ticklish on her upper arms, where the freckles were scattered and dark from afternoons in the sun. Her skin was especially sensitive in the morning when a tickle of a finger or a brush of a foot on a calf could send her through the roof. Giggling and squirming until she stopped Aubrey with teasing fingers or lips pressed against warm skin. The brief moments where they acted like they actually enjoyed the situation before they eventually pulled apart and went downstairs, back to the company of their flirty friends and where none of this was acknowledged. Where the lingering glances and brief hidden touches were enough until Chloe got drunk enough to forget again.

Don't ask Aubrey why it mattered. Why it hurt. Why it made her cry sometimes as she laid in her bed and stared up at the cracked ceiling, alone and simmering in her racing thoughts.

They were just friends.

* * *

Chloe hooked up with a girl from the pub on the first weekend of the summer. Pulling the drunken co-ed up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door behind her as they sunk onto her bed. Their drunken giggling and moans filling the wooden house as they got louder and louder, forgetting that they weren't alone.

Joe's Pub was the only place in town that sold alcohol and the old barkeep ignored Jesse and Beca's awful fake IDs as he poured them mixed drinks with a wink. He could remember what it was like to be young and stuck in a small town and desperate for fun. Aubrey thanked him with a tiny smile as he just shook his head at their IDs and told her tall tales of what life used to be like while her friends had a blast in the tiny bar.

Jesse and Beca had argued over which song to pick from the juke box, but finally managed to come to an agreement on Patsy Cline's _Crazy_. The tears filled Aubrey's eyes as the pair started to slow dance in a corner and Joe slid a Sloe Jin Fizz across the bar to her, somehow understanding the hurt in her eyes without a single word. The drink was sweet and exactly what she had needed after a day in the sun, exploring a local farmer's market before having dinner and spending some time at the beach. The day had been perfect. Or at least she had thought so until everything turned to ruin in front of her eyes.

Jesse was whispering something in Beca's ear and had a hand placed on the small of her back, pulling her against his body as they swayed. Chloe used to dance with her like that, in quiet nights back at their dorm before winning took over everything. Her head resting in the crook of Chloe's shoulder and inhaling the sweet smell of floral shampoo as Chloe hummed along to the soft music and moved with her in time to the beat.

Now that girl was downing shots with a blonde in a college sweatshirt, trading jokes and stories as they flirted and couldn't stop touching each other. It ached. It made the tears sting in her eyes and her hands shake as she tipped the glass back and finished her drink. Licking her lips as she placed the glass back onto the bar and tried to keep her cool, flashing Joe a tiny smile as he just shook his head and frowned.

He refilled her glass over and over and kept telling her stories, not minding that she didn't say much as she took everything in. She couldn't look away. She **didn't** want to look away.

There wasn't enough alcohol in the bar to block out what she was hearing now, sitting on the floor in front of her bed and crying into her knees as she clutched them to her chest. Her whole body ached. Her head was pounding and her stomach was churning, but she couldn't stop listening. She couldn't climb into her bed and shut it out. She needed to feel this pain to stop herself from falling for that girl each time she looked at her.

Jesse and Beca had passed out on the couch in the den when they had all stumbled into the house, drunk and warm and cozy as she crawled on top of him and slept against his chest. Chloe's moans in the old house were enough to wake the girl though and Aubrey stiffened as her bedroom door opened and Beca shuffled inside, slightly wobbly but still standing.

The girl sat next to her on the floor and reached out for her hand, taking it in her own and squeezing it gently as Aubrey cried harder. She **hated **crying over something that didn't matter. Chloe didn't want a relationship. She didn't want to complicate things. She didn't want to lose her best friend.

_How was this any better?_

Beca was pulling her in for an awkward hug and as her tiny arms wrapped around Aubrey's body, she relaxed and sobbed into her t-shirt.

"I'm so sorry", Beca whispered as she rubbed Aubrey's back and tried to soothe her. "I thought that you two..."

"We're nothing", Aubrey murmured while pulling away from Beca and smiling sadly at her. "Go to bed, I'll be okay."

It was easier to lie than face the truth.

* * *

Beca helped her clean the house the next morning while Jesse and Chloe slept their hangovers off. For being so annoying, she was actually surprisingly helpful and as they dusted the living room and pulled blankets off of the record player and book shelves, Aubrey was glad for the company. She didn't want to be alone after a night like last night and somehow Beca understood, rising at the crack of dawn and wordlessly picking up a towel and furniture cleaner as she joined Aubrey in the den.

Once she took the dust heavy blanket off of the record player, Beca stared down at it and smiled as she took in the beautiful instrument. It was meticulously kept and she had always dreamt of owning one just like this. It was perfect.

"Could I borrow the Jeep?" Beca softly asked while eyeing the puny collection of records next to the player. "There's a record shop in town and I want to get some stuff that will actually sound decent on this thing. Do you mind?"

Aubrey shook her head and thrust the keys into the girl's hands, taking over the job of making the living room homey as Beca raced upstairs to grab her shoes and her wallet.

She came back hours later with her arms laden with records. She had everything from _The Beach Boys_ to _Michael Jackson_ and as she placed them on the kitchen table with a grin and allowed her friends to look at her new additions, Aubrey knew that inviting her had been a good idea.

She had picked something up for all of them, so they would all have something to enjoy during the evenings in front of the fire. So they could all feel at home.

_Kaleidoscope Heart_ for Aubrey, still in the plastic wrap and glistening as Aubrey ran her fingers over the track listing and couldn't wait to sing along to her favorite selections. _Parallel Lines _for herself, her favorite record and a gift for the house since she had her own vintage copy at home that had belonged to her mother. _Back in Black_ for Jesse, who threatened to sing _You Shook Me All Night Long _if they couldn't listen to it first. _Abbey Road _for Chloe, which made the girl tear up as she thanked Beca and stared down at the record.

Somehow, Beca figured that Chloe would love that record, but Aubrey knew the truth. She knew that Chloe loved _The Beatles_ and always cried to _Something_ when Aubrey played it in their dorm room. That she imagined her future when _Because_ played. That _Here Comes The Sun_ always made her giggle like a child.

Aubrey knew the important things. She pushed for Beca to play that record first and as the funky intro to _Come Together_ filled the living room, Chloe reached out for her hand and held it tightly, pulling her down onto the couch while Beca put the rest of the collection away and Jesse played air guitar along with George Harrison.

"I'm sorry." Soft words whispered into her ear as she clutched at Aubrey's bicep and stared into her green eyes. "Please forgive me."

She could never stop loving that girl.

* * *

Beca had been wearing t-shirts lately, trying to hide the tan lines from her nosy friends as they lazed around the house and wasted the first few glorious weeks of their break. She didn't want them to question what she had been doing when she snuck off with Jesse, clutching his hand and walking out the back door of the house as they went on adventures.

Aubrey knew better, spotting the bikini that Beca air dried each afternoon on the tiny balcony that was a feature of her guest bedroom. It was navy blue and had tiny polka dots on it as it hung off of a crooked nail protruding from the balcony, drying in the warm afternoon sun and wavering back and forth every so often when a breeze hit it. She saw it as she swept the leaves and bugs from the pool, sweeping the brush along the top of the water and trying her hardest not to smile at Beca's secret life.

It was kind of ridiculous that she got embarrassed over going wading in the creek with her boyfriend, but somehow it wasn't out of place coming from Beca. She was a strange girl and remarkably shy for someone who has a dream of entertaining crowds of people with her music. It was endearing though and Aubrey just shook her head and tucked this information into the back of her mind, promising herself to never reveal it and mortify the girl.

It didn't stop her from feeling a pang of jealousy as Jesse and Beca snuck back onto the property an hour later, their cut off shorts soaked and their feet dirty from the shallow and rocky water. She gave them a tiny grin while discarding the leaves and when she turned back around from the garbage cans, Jesse had planted a tiny kiss on the top of Beca's head, smiling as she squirmed in his arms and murmured soft words that made him smile.

She was happy for them. She just needed to keep telling herself that.

* * *

It was a Thursday and somehow, Beca had managed to find marijuana in the tiny town. Aubrey begged her, practically pleading with her, to not bring drugs into the house but she simply laughed in her face and promised to get her so stoned that she wouldn't even remember tonight.

Aubrey Posen **did not** get high. She hated the smell of marijuana and the idea of losing control while ingesting something from dubious origins. She hated the feeling of smoke filling her lungs and choking her as she coughed and gasped for breath. There was a reason why she had only smoked cigarettes once in her life, sneaking one off of the back porch with Beau the summer before her senior year in high school. Future lawyers did not get "stoned".

She just couldn't help herself though when she walked into the dining room and saw the trio passing the joint back and forth, blowing smoke rings and relaxing as soft music played in the background. They were laughing and smiling and the sly smile on Chloe's face as she held the joint out to her best friend was irresistible.

_One time couldn't hurt, right?_

That was what she kept telling herself as one joint turned into two and two turned into four. It was nice to actually let loose and her laugh came a little easier while her ever present anxiety seemed to disappear. The last joint in the stash was dwindling down to nothing though and while Beca and Jesse were chatting quietly about some music artist, Aubrey turned her attention to Chloe. She offered her the tiny remaining portion of the joint and grinned when Chloe frowned and made a face. She was adorable.

"You didn't save me any", Chloe pouted while sticking out her bottom lip and fluttering her eyelashes. When Aubrey smiled, Chloe bit her lip and softly said "There's only one solution then. We'll have to shotgun the rest of it. Lemme see that."

Aubrey passed her the joint and Chloe studied it for a moment before taking a long drag, the end of it turning red as her breath mixed with the flaming herb inside. Once her mouth was full of smoke, she motioned for Aubrey to lean close to her and placed a thumb on her lips, tracing the outline of the bottom one before easing her finger between the pair and gently opening her mouth.

Aubrey closed her eyes as Chloe leaned close and held her breath as their lips nearly met. Chloe grabbed her shoulder and held her firmly in place while she slowly and teasingly let the smoke slip from her lips and into Aubrey's open mouth.

It was warm and her head was swimming and she wanted desperately to cough, but she was too entranced in Chloe's presence. In her half-closed eyes and flushed cheeks. In the way that her nails were digging into her shoulder on accident, not knowing that she was sending shivers of pain through her body. In her scent and her beauty and in…everything.

As the last bits of the smoke entered her lungs, she couldn't stop herself when she leaned close to Chloe and pressed her lips to her swollen ones, her lungs aching for relief as she held the smoke in and ran her tongue along Chloe's bottom lip while the girl kissed her back.

Jesse and Beca were stunned for a moment, but soon started to laugh and cheer their friends on. They had been waiting for this moment to happen for three weeks now and who cared if it took getting the pair baked for it to happen? It was awesome.

Chloe was the first to pull away, looking up at Aubrey with confused eyes and a stunned expression on her face as she tried to put everything together. As the realization of what had just happened finally sunk in, the girl's face reddened and she quickly rose from the table, nearly knocking her chair backwards as she ran from the group and upstairs.

They all seemed to sober up as the smoke slipped from Aubrey's lips and lingered in the air, hanging for a few moments before dissipating and leaving behind a reminder of what had just happened. Beca followed after Chloe and Jesse shook his head sadly while taking the still burning joint off of the table and extinguishing it before pulling the girl in for a hug and telling her that it would be okay. That she had done nothing wrong.

_Then why did it feel like she had just ruined everything?_

* * *

Aubrey snuck into Chloe's room once Beca came back downstairs, standing in the doorway and gazing at the girl who was lying on her back on the bed with a pillow over her face.

"You're going to smother yourself if you keep that up."

"Is this a joke to you?" Chloe asked while removing the pillow and glaring up at Aubrey. "Do you think that this is some kind of game? You know that we **can't** do this."

"Why no-"

"-You know why!" Chloe exclaimed, sitting up on the bed and running a hand through her hair as fresh tears sprung to her eyes. "I'm not willing to lose you to this...fling that we have. I'm not ready for this. I'm not..."

"Gay?" Aubrey whispered while leaning against the wall and blinking back her own tears. "Then what was the other night, when we kissed and you took my top off? Or that first weekend when you brought that girl back here and slept with her? That all sounds pretty gay to me."

"You know what I mean, Bree." Chloe mumbled while swiping a hand over her eyes and shaking her head. "I don't want you to hate me. I don't want a break-up to ruin us. I don't want a...phase in my life to ruin everything that we've built together. I'm sorry."

Aubrey shook her head in disbelief as Chloe laid back down and rolled on her side, pulling her knees into her chest as she fought back tears_. __**Fear**__ was going to keep them apart? What was scarier than denying the attraction that they shared, the spark that happened whenever their lips met? At how easily it felt to kiss and touch each other. At how much it hurt to ignore each other after sharing a bed at night._

"Fuck you." Aubrey whispered before slamming the door behind her and running to her own room.

Somehow, those words slipping from her lips hurt more than any rejection from Chloe ever had.

* * *

"One and two and a-three and four", Jesse counted aloud downstairs as Aubrey heard the floor boards creaking below her room. They were dancing, like they did most evenings when they thought that their housemates were upstairs sleeping. Beca had been shy to his advances at first, but he was goofy and funny and made sure that he didn't step on her toes as they danced to the old records that Beca had picked up a few days ago in town.

It was ridiculously cute and when they weren't looking one evening, Chloe had captured a few stealth photos and messaged them to their fellow Bellas, cackling when Beca found out and nearly punched her in the mouth. She didn't stay angry for long though, softening when she saw the picture that Chloe had taken and admitting out loud that it was _kinda_ cute.

It wasn't making Aubrey feel any better now though, as she laid in her bed and sobbed into her pillow while replaying her fight with Chloe. Her heart was aching and she couldn't understand why Chloe couldn't just love her. Why she couldn't hold her and kiss her and let her know that she wanted to spend every moment with her. That she loved her the best.

Her sobs were shaking her whole body, but she could hear the door creek open and knew that it was Chloe, since we could still hear the couple downstairs dancing. She didn't look up as Chloe entered, but she didn't look away either. She just tried her best to calm her breathing and wiped her face off with the back of her hand. She couldn't let Chloe know that this whole thing was ripping her apart. She had to be strong. She couldn't give in.

"I'm so sorry", Chloe whispered while smoothing Aubrey's messy hair back and releasing it from the sloppy ponytail, stroking the locks as they fell in waves upon her shoulders. "You're not just a "phase" or whatever dumb thing I said in my room. You're **everything**."

She was easing herself onto the bed now and wrapping an arm over Aubrey's torso as she spooned her from behind, cradling her shaking body close to her own and placing soft kisses on the back of her neck.

"You did nothing wrong."

The lips were moving from her neck to her cheek and Aubrey squeezed her eyes shut as she bit back a moan, her sobs suddenly forgotten as Chloe placed open-mouthed kissed down her jaw until their lips met in a passionate kiss.

"I love you."

Aubrey pulled away as Chloe whispered those words into her neck, sliding her fingers down to her pajama bottoms and fumbling with the drawstring until the knot finally loosened. It was the first time that she had ever heard those words slip from Chloe's lips. She had imagined a million more romantic instances of this happening in her dreams, but this was okay. It was **enough**.

"I love you too."

And she truly did, even if her heart was still aching and her body felt used. Those words were enough for now. They were everything.

It was all she had ever wanted.

* * *

**A/N: As the summary states, this is a Jeca and Chaubrey fic. There will be four chapters, each focusing on one of the characters as the summer progresses. The next chapter will focus on Jesse. If reviews are your thing, go ahead and leave one. Feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Jesse

A/N: I own nothing. The characters aren't mine, nor are the songs, shows, bands, or records referenced. That is all...

Lyrics in this chapter are from: _Dreams _by _Fleetwood Mac _

* * *

_This is a song for a scribbled-down name_  
_And my love keeps writing again and again_  
_This is a song for a scribbled-down name_  
_And my love keeps writing again and again_

_Falling- Florence + The Machine_

* * *

**Chapter Two: Jesse**

* * *

His hair was growing longer by the day, longer than it had ever been before. It was shaggy and tousled and somehow made him look even younger than he already was. His mother would have a fit if she could see him now and his father would just smirk and roll his eyes. He liked it though. It was different. He was different. This place was changing him and maybe it was for the better.

For once in his life, it was nice to just be able to make his own decisions. To plot his own course each day instead of sticking to whatever was asked of him. Sure, college had given him the freedom that he had desperately longed for all throughout high school, but this was different. If he wanted to sleep in until noon and wear pajamas all day, he could. If he wanted to smoke cigars and fish all afternoon, that was fine too. He was his own man here and the only consequences of his actions came in eye rolls and smirks. And sometimes, those were the nicest part of his day.

He was becoming the man he had always wanted to be; independent and mysterious and happy. Up until now, his summers had revolved around working odd jobs or soccer practices every afternoon. For once, it was nice to have no goals or responsibilities and to just be free. To fall in love and to hopefully be loved in return. Hopefully.

He had grown a beard as well. It was scraggly and itchy and Beca hated the feel of it against her lips when she kissed him, but he was keeping it. It didn't matter to him that Chloe told him he looked like a porn star or that Beca refused to ever cuddle with him until he shaved it off. Every mysterious character in any movie had a beard and that was what he wanted to be. Mysterious. Someone who didn't wear their entire heart on their sleeve and that people took seriously. Someone that could be trusted and confided in.

Someone that could be fallen in love with.

He wrote bad poetry at night in front of the fire, scribbling words and phrases into a battered notebook while Beca sat across from him and just rolled her eyes. Chloe and Aubrey would disappear at night, pretending not to be a couple as they snuck up the stairs together, and he would sit there and sneak occasional glances at the girl across from him until the fire became nothing but embers. Admiring all of the beautiful, tiny details. The flecks in her deep blue eyes, the way her hair fell in waves after an afternoon in the pool, the intentionally rough design of the tattoos on her arms. She was beautiful.

She was mysterious, he was a dreamer. She saw right through him and he...longed to understand anything that went through that head of hers. What she thought about when she smirked as she mixed. Why she always pulled away when he went for a second kiss before bed. How she hadn't pushed him away yet.

He was falling in love.

* * *

He liked Chloe. Hanging out with her was like hanging out with one of the guys. She was sweet and funny and always had something to say that would either make him roll his eyes or crack up. He loved people like her. The people that everyone looked at when they walked in a room. Effortless people. Everything that he was not. He tried too hard and she made everything look easy. A wry smile, a perfectly timed comment, a raise of an eyebrow. She could make Beca smile in a way that he had never managed to draw from her. She could make Beca laugh with a smirk or a gesture that left him reeling. She made Beca better, dulling her sharp edges and bringing out a side that she hid away.

He wished to be like her.

Their friendship came easily and it was nice. Girls could be nice to hang out with. Chloe was different than Beca, just like she was different than Aubrey. Aubrey was a practical friend to have and while they didn't have many groundbreaking conversations about their dreams and goals, she was good to bounce thoughts and ideas off of. She always had an opinion and sometimes that could be a good thing. Chloe was different. She liked drinking and smoking and surprising him with foul language and flirtatious teasing. She was intoxicating. He understood why Aubrey had fallen for her. She was different than people like them.

She liked Frisbee and when they had lost it during a rather aggressive game on a Wednesday afternoon, after she had heaved it over the neighbor's fence and neither of them had the guts to approach the haunted-looking house, Aubrey had sworn that there was a spare somewhere upstairs. Between bickering and accusations of whose fault losing the plastic toy really was, they had crept upstairs into the attic to search for one. Chloe had been surprised when Aubrey told them that there was a spare, expecting a terse "Posen's don't play with Frisbees" instead of the offhanded comment to go exploring upstairs, but it didn't stop her from climbing up to the musty attic with him and creeping on all of the awesome stuff that was hidden up there. Antiques were her thing and she truly believed that Aubrey wouldn't mind if she went home with something really cool.

"There's a lot of cool stuff up here", Jesse whispered while dusting off an old rocking chair and slowly running his hand over the mane, stepping back as the horse gently teetered back and forth. "Will Aubrey kill us if we break anything?"

"Why are you whispering? You don't have to whisper just because we're in an attic!" Chloe called out as she leaned into an antique armoire, pulling out an old top hat and placing it on top of her head. "How do I look?"

"Like a freak of nature. There could be spiders in there." Chloe just shrugged and he shook his head while grinning and flipping through an old album of baseball cards. Someone had quite a collection and he would do anything to take this home and show it to his baseball obsessed father. He had a feeling though that Aubrey would inspect them for excess baggage before dropping them off at the airport.

"Jesse, come check this out."

He looked up from the cards and put them down for a moment, crossing the room and stopping when he saw the pile of records that Chloe had unearthed from an old cardboard box. Forget the baseball cards, **this** was the impressive collection in the room. There was _everything_ a classic music buff could ever ask for in front of them in mint condition. Everything from _The Beatles_ to _Pink Floyd_, _The Rolling Stones_ to _Janis Joplin_. It was perfect. He wanted to listen to them all.

"What's written on that one?" He pointed at the record that was cradled in Chloe's hands, running his fingers over the marred cover of _Fleetwood Mac's Rumours_. He could barely make out what was written in the faded ink, but if anything it looked like a name or some small message. He was intrigued.

"It says 'Abigail Williams'. This must have…" She trailed off, holding the record closer to face and carefully swiping the dust and grime off of the cover.

"It must have…what?"

"It's nothing important. You know what? I really don't feel like playing Frisbee anymore. I think I'm going to lie down for a little while." She looked away from him, shaking her head quickly and taking in the mess that had been made. "Could you clean this mess up before Bree comes up here and blows a gasket?"

"Yeah, no problem."

She practically ran down from the attic and he was left speechless, faced with overturned boxes and strewn relics and clothing that would need placed back into their rightful positions. He wasn't entirely convinced that she was really sick, but he wasn't about to question her about it and offend her. Besides, there was something about the way that she had held that record that made him think that something was up. He was curious.

Girls were weird.

* * *

She came to him later that evening, her eyes red from what he assumed had been tears and her voice soft as she knocked on his door and lingered in the opening.

"What do you know about records?"

"Everything."

That was enough to send her across the room, flopping backwards onto his bed and sighing heavily as she stared up at the ceiling. She was quiet for a few moments, lost in thought and trying to think of the right words to say to him. Eventually though, his hand reaching out and gripping her shoulder warmly was all the prompting she needed.

"Why would a song sound distorted on a record? It sounds…different than the rest of them."

"Like a crackling noise?" She nodded, wrapping her arms around her stomach and hugging herself. Something was up. "Um…it can be a bunch of different stuff. Is it dusty from being upstairs?"

"No", she whispered as she pulled herself up, "it looks fine."

"Well, the quality fades with each listen. Vinyl has a tendency to change over time, that's why we mainly use CDs and digital music at the radio station now. Maybe that was a song that the person really liked."

"Really?" She asked, swiping a hand over her eyes while trying not to break down further into tears.

"Yeah, that could be it." He reached out for her hand, holding it tightly as she smiled meekly at him before looking away while furiously blinking the tears from her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She nodded, standing up and brushing invisible dust off of her pajama bottoms as she flashed him a small smile. "Thank you."

And then she was gone. Slipping through the doorway almost as quickly as she had appeared. Confusing him and leaving him with even more questions that were swimming in his head and stopping him from resting. What was up with her tonight? He hoped it was nothing bad or involving Aubrey. That was a whole other mess that he didn't want to think about.

Girls were crazy.

"Hey." Beca's soft voice broke through his swirling thoughts and he sat up quickly, leaning on an elbow and smiling at her through his bleary eyes and aching head. She looked gorgeous, even in the middle of the night. Her hair was tousled and wavy from tossing in her sleep and his old t-shirt from his high school track team looked perfect on her. It no longer fit him, but it was perfect on her and she could practically wear it as a dress as it swam over the contours of her body. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and it was taking everything in him from pulling her onto the bed with her and showing her just how much he wanted her. How he thought about her constantly. How he couldn't get enough of her.

"Can't sleep?"

"My room is cold", she murmured as she shuffled back and forth on her bare feet, her legs aching against the freezing wooden floorboards. "Could I sleep with you tonight?"

His jaw nearly dropped to his chest, but he stopped himself from appearing shocked as he caught himself and turned it into a small smile. She had never asked for comfort or to lay with him. He had always initiated the contact between the two of them and while he had often wished that she would take the lead, it wasn't something that ever really bothered him.

Maybe she was falling for him too.

"Sure", he whispered while patting the spot next to him on the bed and flipping over the blankets, giving her the opportunity to hop in and get cozy. It wasn't until he sat up and fixed the pillows that he noticed that he was shivering too. He ignored it though and pulled the comforter back onto the bed, snuggling under it and smiling as she climbed into the bed and gave him an uneasy look. She was having second thoughts. He was too. Neither of them got up. Neither of them moved.

"Could I kiss you?" He asked tentatively as she slid a little closer and leaned against his warm chest. He didn't want to scare her away or push her too far. He wouldn't be **that **guy.

She nodded and he leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head before pulling her a little closer and sighing contentedly. He had wanted to be suave and debonair; taking her breath away with a passionate kiss that rocked her world and changed their relationship. Catapulting them into intimacy and love.

It was too soon. He was man enough to understand that and okay with stepping back. He could wait for her.

This was enough.

* * *

As the nights grew warmer, they spent more and more time outside in the evenings. The humidity felt good on their skin after a day spent inside, basking in the air conditioning, and the nights seemed to last for hours. Sitting on the back porch and watching the fireflies as the sky grew dark, passing bottles of beer back and forth and trading stories about favorite songs and college memories and their dreams for the future.

He loved these nights.

Aubrey had caved in after he and Chloe had ganged up on her and purchased a small fire pit to keep outside. The fireplace inside was nice, but there was just something special about sitting around a fire and watching the stars that reminded him of being free. Of nights spent on the beach with his parents as a child and feeling like nothing could hurt him. Like everything would be okay.

The fire pit had been in place for a week and they had used it every night, congregating around its heat and roasting marshmallows over the tiny flame. It was like summer camp and instead of telling ghost stories or climbing into their bunk beds at the end of the evening, one of them (usually Beca) would end up passing out on the deck while the stories got increasingly dirty as the night crept into morning. The beers would pile up on the edge of the dock and Aubrey's laugh would get looser as she cracked jokes as the alcohol dropped her guard down and opened her up.

He was having the time of his life.

Beca loved smores and would pack in as many as she could before the alcohol came out. She had claimed that she had never had one, that her mother was a health nut and didn't allow sweets in the house, and she had fallen in love with melted chocolate sandwiched between sweet graham crackers. He swore sometimes that she showed more affection to food than to him, but he never voiced it out loud. It would sound too weird and he didn't want to imagine what kind of response he would get from her. He didn't need to bring up something that he knew was true.

He teased her endlessly as the marshmallow stuck to her lips and made her look like a child. He couldn't help himself from laughing and comparing her love of smores to Buster Bluth's infatuation with juice boxes. She didn't understand the reference, but cracked a smile when Aubrey burst into laughter and simply flipped him off while shoving another one into her mouth. It was endearing. And she didn't pull away. Not when his lips pressed against hers and tasted so sweet as she wrapped an arm around his back and pulled him a little closer.

It was the first time that she had kissed him in front of anyone else and it almost took his breath away. She was usually withdrawn and shy about PDA, but it felt so right that he couldn't bring himself to question what had brought the change. When he opened up his eyes and saw Chloe watching them with tears shining in her own, he knew exactly what had sparked it. They **were** best friends after all. She didn't say a word though and instead snuck a peak at Aubrey, biting her lip as the girl stuck her marshmallow into the fire and appeared completely oblivious to her want. To her need to touch her and love her. To her struggle to quit beating herself up and to finally admit to herself who she was and what she needed.

She simply shook it off and stuck her own marshmallow into the flame, ignoring his worried eyes as she blinked her tears away. These girls were going to kill him by the time this summer was over. He was sure of it, but somehow that didn't matter as the kiss grew sweeter and Beca softened into his touch.

He never wanted to leave this place.

* * *

He didn't mean to eavesdrop, he just couldn't help himself. The door to the den just happened to be open as he crept back into the house, desperate for some water to take off the edge of the beer, and he couldn't stop himself from lingering and listening in on the conversation. It didn't make him a bad person, just…nosy and who could blame him? Chloe and Aubrey were talking in whispers behind the door and he **had** to know what was going on with them.

"This was your mom's", Chloe whispered while pulling the record out of a drawer and handing it to Aubrey. She watched the girl for a few moments as she traced his fingers over the letters and held her breath, not wanting to ruin the emotional moment for Aubrey.

"Where did you find this?"

"In the attic, when Jesse and I were looking for a spare Frisbee." She reached out, taking Aubrey's hands in her own and running them over the name and the art of the vintage record. "Did you know that she liked this kind of music?"

"No", Aubrey whispered, blinking back tears and struggling to keep her emotions in check. She knew next to nothing about her mother, who didn't say much of anything to her children and who had kept to herself until her death when Aubrey was fourteen. She had let her husband parent the children while she watched from the sidelines, letting him punish and control them with dutiful nods and soft words once the damage was done. Aubrey had only revealed this information to Chloe, but in a drunken conversation she had also spilt her guts to Beca who had in turn whispered the story to him during one of their afternoon adventures into the brush.

It was something that made his heart ache to know about. The worst kind of gossip.

"I don't know anything about her. She never said much." Aubrey looked down at lap, rubbing her hands restlessly over the denim and blinking back the tears that had flooded her eyes. Chloe reached out and rubbed her back, placing a soft kiss on her cheek and wiping the single tear that spilt from her eye and dripped onto her cheek. "Could we listen to it?"

"Yeah, let me get it set up."

Aubrey watched her as she carefully slid the old vinyl from the sleeve and placed it onto the turntable, sliding the arm over to the disk and placing the needle onto the track that she had talked to Jesse about. As she turned the volume up and the slow song started to play, Aubrey's eyes filled with tears and she reached out for Chloe's hand as she sunk onto the couch next to her.

"I think this was her favorite. This is the one that she listened to the most."

"Thank you", Aubrey whispered while leaning against her chest and rubbing her fingers listlessly through Chloe's hair as she softly sang along. She loved her with all of her heart. She didn't know what she had done to be blessed with a girl like this. She was perfect.

"_Thunder only happens when it's raining. Players only love you when they're playing."_

She leaned her head down and pressed her lips to Aubrey's, kissing her as the tears streamed down Aubrey's face and slipped into their mouths and dripped onto their shirts. Salty and warm and everything as Chloe clutched the girl to her chest and whispered soft words into her ear, forgoing her singing as the song built in the background and settling on simply comforting the girl.

Jesse was mesmerized. They looked so in love and comfortable with each other that he just couldn't understand why Chloe acted the way she did. Why she pushed her away in public and hooked up with anyone she could find when they went out. How they only touched when they thought no one was watching. Why the only times when Aubrey smiled was when Chloe got wasted enough to touch her without pulling away. Why she was breaking her own heart and pulling Aubrey down with her.

"Come upstairs with me." Beca whispered as she snuck up behind him and snaked an arm around his waist, leaning into his body and gently pushing him away from the door. "No one likes a creep."

"I'm not-"

"You're eavesdropping and that's not nice", she teased him as she slid a hand into his back pocket and smirked. "This is a conversation and a moment that is just for them."

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before touching his chin and pulling gently on his beard. He smirked at her as his skin stung but followed her further into the hallway and away from the girls. He wanted to linger there and to watch the two as they kept up their dance between lust and love, but he knew that Beca was right. This was really none of his business.

"Chloe…she doesn't want anyone to know about them and if she caught us standing here, I'm pretty sure that she would kill us." She smirked, looking back at the doorway and shaking her head while fighting back the laughter that tickled the back of her throat. "Actually, I'm pretty sure that **both **of them would murder us. Especially Aubrey."

"So, what are you suggesting?" He bit his lip, placing a hand on the small of her back and pulling her against his chest as he slowly stepped towards the stairwell and leaned against the wall.

"Just come upstairs with me and I'll show you", she whispered while running her hands through his hair and down to his neck before reaching up and gently tugging on the tiny whiskers of his beard. "Please? It'll be fun…"

She bit her lip and that was all it took. He didn't need to be asked twice.

* * *

She felt good in his arms as he eased her onto the bed and kissed her lips, taking his time as he trailed across her cheeks and down her neck. She squirmed as he placed warm, open-mouthed kisses on her neck and pushed his head down gently towards her neck, threading her fingers through his thick and unruly hair as she directed him where she wanted him the most.

He fell in love with her collarbones and the way that she shivered when he gently bit down on the skin and pulled. He memorized the tattoo that decorated her shoulder, tracing fingers over the tiny purple flowers and kissing the thorns. He loved her scent, of beer and sun block and the outdoors. The smoky smell that lingered in her hair from leaning over the fire. The stickiness on her cheeks left over from the smores.

He loved everything about her.

She was whimpering now, sliding a hand into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. He quirked an eyebrow as she thrust it into his hand and bit his bottom lip, giving him all the clues that were needed to catch her drift. He just never expected it to happen like this. They had never even talked about sex, yet alone hinted at it. Beca's hands gripping his back and the way that she pulled him impossibly close though were all the signs that he needed though. It was okay.

It was gone. It had been tucked safely in his wallet, a present from his older brother who simply winked and told him to stay safe as he tucked it into his backpack the morning that he had left for Barden. He hadn't gotten to use it yet and now it was gone. He was going to kill Chloe Beale.

It all came flooding back to him in crystal clear memories. They had been at Joe's and Chloe had asked to see his wallet for a minute, claiming that she had left her purse at home and that she needed to borrow some cash. He didn't think anything of it at the time and didn't even bother to check to see what she had taken, but the little smirk on her face as she bounded off of the dance floor with some hipster in tight jeans and sunglasses told him everything now. She had disappeared for a half hour and when she returned with tousled hair and flushed cheeks, she had simply claimed that it was from the wind blowing outside when she stepped out for some air. No one had questioned her or called her out on it. They simply believed her and now…he felt sick.

"It's um…it's not in here." He murmured into Beca's neck, feeling her stiffen and sit back on her knees before gazing down at him with a questioning smirk. "Chloe took it out of my wallet."

"What would Chloe do with a condom?" Beca teased while playing with his hands that lay flat against the bed in frustration. "The last time I checked, she was a chick and we're not the ones that need them. How would she use it when she's just been hooking up with Aubrey?"

"Do you actually believe that?" He questioned her roughly, instantly feeling bad when she blanched at his tone and made a face. He couldn't stop though. He had sat back idly and watched Chloe hurt Aubrey and throw away something good that she had in her life. It wasn't cool. He couldn't be that guy anymore. ""You must be as blind as Aubrey is."

"What?!" Beca exclaimed while sliding off of his lap and shaking her head. "What does she have to do with any of this? Are you talking about the Chloe situation? I explained it to you a million times. She's afraid."

"How can you stick up for her? She screwed some guy in the bathroom while Aubrey moped at the bar. We were literally five feet from her and she just…it's wrong, Beca." He shook his head, smirking as Beca rolled her eyes and started to get up. "You're completely ridiculous sometimes. I know that she's your friend, but she's confusing being afraid with acting like a slut."

"And you're confusing caring about Aubrey with being an asshole!" She snapped at him, standing up and walking towards the door. She couldn't take him when he was like this. This holier than thou attitude he got whenever he believed that he was right. It was infuriating.

He didn't care. He knew that he was right and that Beca was oblivious. She had always been that way in matters of her heart.

"You only see what you want to see."

Beca stopped in the doorway, her shoulders slumping as she stared down at the floor for a few quiet moments. He knew that he had gone too far, pushing her to a place where he had no business going. He had done a lot of that this summer. Sticking his nose into places where he didn't belong. It was nearly impossible not to when you were the third wheel.

He shouldn't have come here; tagging along like a puppy on Beca's adventure with her friends. He had been stupid. He didn't belong here. _They_ didn't belong here.

"I've seen everything! I see the way that she looks at her when she thinks that no one else is looking. She would never hurt her on purpose." She shook her head angrily, swiping her hand over a tear that had somehow made its way into her eyes. She hated confrontation. "Not everything is black and white, Jesse. I know you want to come to the rescue and fix them, but you can't fix **everything**."

The breath caught in her throat as the tears made her eyes unbearably blurry and she was forced to close them. She didn't even know why she was crying. She cared about Chloe and Aubrey, but not enough to get this emotional. It was...beyond them. It was the way that he looked at her, judging her for even thinking that his words weren't completely right. How they had gone from red hot to this tepid state with a look in a wallet and a memory of a drunken evening. The way he spat the insult out, not even caring that he was hurting the one person that looked out for her last year. How she had almost given him the one thing that no one had ever shared before without even discussing it.

She wasn't ready; unprepared for the feelings that were flooding through her heart. Lust and love and anger and hate. She needed to bail out. It was all too much.

"Beca..." He trailed off, trying to understand the distant look that had painted her face as she fumbled with the handle and took deep breaths. Something was wrong.

He was wrong.

"Sleep alone tonight."

* * *

His head was pounding when he woke up the next morning. He hadn't even had that much to drink the night before, but he knew that it was foolish to even consider blaming it on the beer. He had been an idiot and a fool. He was ashamed of himself.

He knew that he went too far sometimes. That he pushed people to the edge with his opinions and beliefs. It was the way he was raised. Never back down, never take no for an answer. His father had told him it was a sign of strength. That having the last word made you powerful. That being right was all that mattered. Life wasn't a movie and his father wasn't wise and he wasn't the man he had thought he was becoming. He was just the same headstrong boy that had left Portland ten months ago with a box full of DVDs and a heart full of goals and dreams that only Barden could fulfill.

Nothing had changed. Nothing would ever change.

Somehow he managed to drag himself to the shower and debated shaving his awful beard as he stared at his reflection in the steamy mirror. A razor and some shaving cream couldn't fix anything that he had damaged last night, but maybe it was a start. Beca hated the beard.

He decided to keep it. He wasn't ready to give up on himself quite yet.

"Beca went into town with Chloe." Aubrey's soft voice shook him from his dreams as he sat at the kitchen table, daydreaming and absentmindedly pulling on the gritty hair that covered his chin and cheeks. She slid two eggs onto the plate sitting in front of him and sunk down across from him at the table, moving her spoon lazily through the pool of milk that had turned her _Raisin Bran_ into mush. "She said something about needing to get away for a little while and wanting to add some stuff to the record collection. She really loves that player."

He smiled for a moment, remembering how her face lit up when she discovered a new song that she liked and moving the needle back once it finished, wanting to experience and love and memorize it. Each track burrowing its way into her heart with warbled melodies and feedback as the needle picked up on the dust and grime from years of use and stagnancy. Experiencing the same highs that a generation before them had done the very same way. Getting back to the roots of music and hearing it the way that it was meant to be heard.

This was his favorite shade of Beca.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her words tentative as they slipped from her mouth and into his ears. He had been staring at the food that she had placed in front of him, his fists clenching and his head aching as he thought about how angry he had made Beca. How she wasn't there this morning. How she had stood in the doorway and just shook her head in disgust at him. How she had left.

"Why do you put yourself through this torture?"

Aubrey's spoon slid from her fingers and landed in the bowl, clinking against the porcelain surface of the bowl and settling into the clump of oats as milk splattered onto the table beneath them. Her face was pale and her eyes were tearing up as she stared back at him and fumbled with what to say. Trying to find the right words to keep herself from looking like a lovesick fool. To save her rapidly crumbling face.

"How can you still want her after everything? Why...", he trailed off, shaking his head as Aubrey bit her quivering bottom lip. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"It aches", Aubrey whispered while pushing her bowl away and staring back into his curious and sympathetic eyes. "It feels like being ripped apart every time I look at her."

"Then why do you do it?"

"I love her."

Her words were firm now, spoken with such belief that he had to keep his mouth from dropping open. He would never understand how a person could put themselves through misery like this, but maybe it was okay. Maybe understanding was only meant for those that truly loved. That nothing Aubrey was going through would make sense to him because she was the one that was in love. Her heart was the one on the line and she was the one that was brave enough to have it smashed to pieces.

"I would wait my whole life for her." She was smiling now, playing with her fingers as she stared into his questioning eyes and tried to make him understand. "If it takes years for her to feel comfortable enough to be with me, I'll wait. I'll never stop loving her."

"Why?" He asked, reaching out for her and placing a hand on her wrist as she just shrugged and gave him a tiny smile. "How can it be worth the pain?"

"Because I love her and I know that she loves me." She stood up, shaking his hand from her wrist gently and giving him a wistful grin before placing her dirty bowl in the sink and lingering there for a few moments. Eventually, her hands released themselves from the granite and she stepped towards the door before catching herself and freezing for a brief moment.

There was more to be said. The words were tempting as they lay on the tip of her tongue and she had to let him know. She didn't need to justify her love or her heart to anyone, especially to someone that she wasn't even close with. She didn't have to express exactly what Chloe did to her with a single glance or touch. To count the things that she loved about Chloe, even if she would never find enough time to list them all.

"You wait for the good ones."

* * *

He wasn't inside the house when Beca returned. He wasn't there to greet her or kiss her or to whisper apologies into her ear. To share fleeting glances with Aubrey as Chloe ignored her and went about her day while ignoring the aching in her chest. To grin and hug that girl, to laugh at the dumb jokes and sarcastic remarks as the day wore on like all the others had.

It didn't always have to be like the movies. He was growing up.

* * *

He had known he was in for trouble from the moment he brought the guitar into the house two days into the start of their summer, slinging the leather case on his shoulder and grinning as he celebrated his terrific find from a neighborhood garage sale. He knew when Beca arched an eyebrow and shot him a look of pure displeasure, her sarcastic thoughts written all over her face and unnecessary to voice. He was becoming every rock cliché that they had made fun of in afternoons spent sorting records and talking about whatever they could think of to pass the time, from the tight jeans to the checkered Vans. He was a walking stereotype, but she didn't say a word. The sigh expelled against his neck when he held her close was enough.

He wasn't very good at the instrument, but that wasn't enough to deter him as he spent long mornings sitting on the dock, strumming the acoustic guitar and singing along in faint murmurs. He knew that they could hear him inside and that Beca liked to stand at the back door and listen while she poured her morning coffee, but he didn't get embarrassed over how terrible he was. He just ran his calloused fingers over the taut strings and bit back smiles as the girls complained and told him to take lessons.

It was the little things that he did that annoyed Beca. From the indie bands that became a mainstay on the record player to the shaggy hair that fell into his eyes as he plucked the strings. She thought that he was a poser, but she never called him out on it. She stopped herself from telling him that no one found his worn sneakers and tight jeans ironic and that he could stop brooding for one second before his face froze like that. That he didn't look handsome when the hair fell in his eyes as he focused on the frets or that the beard didn't make him look older and regal. That she didn't find it _kind of _endearing, once she looked past the stereotypes and focused on his hands or his eyes or that smile as he whispered the lyrics in the morning light. She kept it all to herself.

He listened to _The Lumineers_ on repeat for a week, almost wearing out the record and getting murdered by everyone else in the house as he reset the needle after each playback and listened over and over. Beca wanted to tell him that it wasn't cool and that they were far too popular to give him the cred that he was searching for, but she just smirked and shoved her headphones over her ears and watched him from the corner of her eye. The heavy bass and sultry lyrics of her mash-ups distracting her enough that she could actually look at him and keep her breaths even. That she could ignore the look of pure bliss on his face as the lead singer's voice soared or as the acoustic guitars played the melodies that kept his foot tapping and his heart thumping.

By the middle of summer, he had started to write songs into a little notebook that he kept shoved in the back of his jeans and she didn't find it attractive at all. Not when he slid his hand into the pocket and eased the dog-eared book out, running his fingers over the cover and wearing his pencil down to the nub as he scribbled phrases and chords and looked out at the creek. When he chewed on the end of it when he lost his concentration and couldn't find the word that would fit. How he would kick off his sneakers and dip his feet in the water, wetting the bottom of his jeans and ignoring the tiny fish and weeds that rubbed up against his skin.

She would just smirk at him and shake her head and that was enough. Enough to send shivers down his spine and to drive him crazy when he spotted her leaning in the doorway and watching him. To keep him up at night as he wondered if she would ever fall in love with him. If his feelings would always be one sided. If his heart would break in the end.

He wasn't afraid anymore. His heart could take it.

His song of choice in the morning varied on his mood. Last week, he had blasted The Cure every evening as he sipped coffee and read old paperbacks in front of the fireplace. Beca awoke to the sound of _Friday I'm In Love_ and didn't wince as he slowed it down and crooned the lyrics in light whispers. She didn't pull away when she slipped outside and he wrapped an arm around her back, putting the guitar on the deck and ignoring it in favor of tracing her curves and squeezing her hip. She didn't make a face when he kissed her and for once, she returned it full. She was constantly surprising him and he loved it. He loved her.

* * *

This afternoon, it was _Dead Sea_ and for once, Beca didn't hate _The Lumineers_. Not when his voice soared and the guitar grew louder, oblivious to the fact that she was watching him from the doorway as he brushed his fingers over the strings. He was getting better and he knew it, his confidence growing with each new song and chord that he taught himself. This place was making him better, shaping him into the man he wanted to be.

He still fumbled for the right words to say and shivered when Beca kissed him on the spot beneath his right ear. He occasionally slipped when they walked along the banks of the creek, even after the path had become familiar to him, and said the wrong things just to push Beca's buttons. He teased Chloe even when she did things that upset him and joked with Aubrey when she was brooding and just wanted him to shut up. He made plenty of mistakes and said tons of dumb things, but he was changing and it was okay.

He smiled when he finally spotted her standing at the back door, leaning against the sliding glass door and shooting him a tiny smirk as she tried not to act impressed. He grinned back as he slung the guitar over his shoulder and as he slouched and shuffled back and forth in his stupid sneakers, Beca couldn't help the feeling that rose in her gut. The need to simultaneously kiss him and shove him into the water. To pull him in for a hug and to tell him that he missed his note at the start of the last verse. That he had insulted her best friend last night and that it was not fucking cool. That she really, really liked him and if she closed her eyes and wished hard, it even felt like love.

She didn't say a word, instead settling on giving him a tight hug and leaning against his chest as he held her close. He smelt like Old Spice and the cheap cigars that he snuck when no one was around. His t-shirt was soft against her face and it felt like home. It felt perfect. They felt right.

He wanted to tell her how gorgeous she looked in her cut-off shorts and flip flops. How sorry he was about the awful scratches that decorated her legs from the jagger bush she had run into on their last evening stroll. How adorable her knees were with their awkward tan lines and the dirt stains that wouldn't go away. How lovely her hand felt in his.

He settled on "good morning", content to wait for the perfect moments to reveal those things to her. When they wouldn't be combined with apologies and cheapened by the sentiment. When it felt right. He would wait for her forever.

You wait for the good ones.

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter focuses on Chloe. The M-rating will come into full effect there. You have been warned...**

**If reviews are your thing, feel free to leave one. I appreciate feedback either on here or on my Tumblr. Thanks for the favorites, follows, and reviews received thus far. I hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
